With technological changes on the horizon, concerns are high that workforce disruption is going to leave a lot of people on the sidelines.

And many people don’t think they’re going to make the cut when the next generation of workers comes along. That’s according to a new workforce trends study from cloud-based learning firm Cornerstone OnDemand, which revealed that 53 percent of those surveyed say they aren’t sure if they’ll be able to withstand the next round of layoffs in their given field.

Generally, workers emphasize that they need to keep improving their given professional skill sets (something 83 percent of respondents say is necessary), but only about half of respondents say this is something that their employers assist with.

“We are facing a chasm between individuals’ hunger to learn new skills and employers’ urgency to provide much-needed learning and development opportunities,” states the report.

“Building an Adaptive Workforce: The Demand for Transparency and Skills Development” [registration] describes the need for skills training as “an evolutionary process” that requires learning through new experiences and opportunities granted throughout life. “Without growth opportunities, especially in this dynamic world, people fall behind, they become less confident and less valuable to their employers, and they sometimes lose their jobs,” the report adds. “It’s as if they are stuck out at sea without visibility into their future.”

This problem is particularly felt among baby boomers—73 percent of respondents who fall in that category say that their employers didn’t help identify the skills they needed in the future.

And if employers aren’t going to help, it’s always possible that employees will take the initiative. The report notes that 42 percent of respondents are actively developing multiple types of skill sets to decrease their likelihood of being laid off, while 50 percent believe that completing tasks beyond the letter of their job description is key to getting promoted.

The report recommends that employees take steps to become lifelong learners in an effort to stay ahead of the curve. But just because employees are willing to take the initiative themselves doesn’t mean they wouldn’t appreciate a little help from the organization that hired them, notes Cornerstone Founder and CEO Adam Miller.

“Technological improvements are making the world move fast—really fast. And, the workplace is changing at an unprecedented pace. Most of us simply cannot keep up. The skills divide is now affecting every single one of us—every job, every company, every industry,” Miller said in a news release. “The entire workforce is thinking about what new skills are needed for the future. Today, people yearn for learning and development opportunities from their employers.”

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